Page 2 - Dan Lockney News Today

The interior of the Biomass Production Chamber at Kennedy Space Center in Florida replicates the closed growing environment astronauts will use in space or on other planets to grow fresh crops. The chamber helps NASA provide critical data for the indoor farming industry. RAY WHEELER / COURTESY OF NASA LIFE IN THE FUTURE HAS LONG

The interior of the Biomass Production Chamber at Kennedy Space Center in Florida replicates the closed growing environment astronauts will use in space or on other planets to grow fresh crops. The chamber helps NASA provide critical data for the indoor farming industry. RAY WHEELER / COURTESY OF NASA LIFE IN THE FUTURE HAS LONG

We call dibs on the Robo-Glove.

NASA invents a lot of cool and cutting edge technology to make space exploration possible—tech that often ends up pretty close to home as well.

NASA has a track record of spinoff company success stories, bringing the technology developed for space exploration into the marketplace. The space program issued about 200 licenses on patents last year alone.

While the space agency didn't actually develop Tang, its R&D includes everything from robot gloves to vertical farming—with commercial benefits back home.